12x12 - Boiling Point

[bunniefuu]

It's normal for us
to be spread thin,

but right now
it's a little bit too much.

[narrator] Halfway through
the mining season,

twenty six-year-old
Parker Schnabel...

Good boy.

...faces a do-or-die moment.

[Parker Schnabel]
Mud Mountain is
a big project.

Probably a bit bigger
that I thought
it was gonna be.

And there's still
a lot of dirt to move.

[narrator] He has to finish
stripping the 60-foot deep
Mud Mountain

in the next month,

or he won't have time
to sluice it

before the end of the season,
when his lease runs out.

[Parker] Come on!

[narrator] And any gold
left behind...

...will be someone else's
to mine.

[Parker] I already paid
royalties on

this stuff at Mud Mountain,
so I have to get it done
this year.

And the clock on the season
is definitely ticking.

[narrator] But his whole crew
is already flat out

running his two wash plants.

Sluicifer.

And Big Red.

- What's happenin'?
-[Parker] How are you guys?

We've got a problem.

Mud Mountain, like,
that is a this-season thing.

We have to go in there
and get it done.

Or else we lose hundreds
of thousands of dollars.

More likely in the millions.

We need people
and machines, and...

We just don't have anybody.

The only solution I've come up
with is we're--

We gotta shut a plant down.

-[Mitch Blaschke] Free up some
of the machines and people.
- Yeah. I think Sluicifer.

It's the real manpower suck.

-[Mitch] Yeah.
- Yep.

Shut down a plant.
Now is the prime
sluicing time, right?

-[Mitch] Well, I think
it's definitely a gamble.
-[Tyson Lee] Yup.

[narrator]
Shutting down Sluicifer

will cost Parker $100,000
a day in unmined gold.

But it's his only option,

if he wants to sluice
Mud Mountain this year.

I don't like saying we've
bit off more than we can chew,
but we did.

Mud Mountain has to get done.

[Tyson Lee] You know,
it's definitely a first,

shutting down a wash plant
halfway through the season.

And chancing something
like this,

you know it's gonna drop
to minus 20 on us.

[Chris Doumitt] Right now
is prime sluicing season.

We have 24-hour daylight,

good thaw going on.

And to shut one plant down...

That's-- That's risky business
right there.

[Mitch] Uh, obviously that
cuts our production in half.

And we're trying to get
everything we can out of it.

[narrator] Mitch
and his skeleton crew

will keep running Big Red
at the Airstrip.

While Tyson takes his
five-person crew to re-open
Mud Mountain.

-[Tyson] How's it
going, buddy?
-[Doumitt] Hey.

Parker's made the decision
that we need to

take what manpower we have,

and hit Mud Mountain.

It sounds like we will
be shutting down
the plant for a while.

So, uh, I'm just gonna
be putting here

the last bucket
before shutting it all down.

It looks like we all about to,
uh, move to Mud Mountain
and, uh,

yeah, it is what it is.

[Doumitt] Shut her down.

[narrator] This is
the first time

Parker has ever shut down
a working wash plant

at peak season.

[Mitch] We're really
counting on Mud Mountain

having ten ounces an hour,
and it...

You know, if it does,
we'll be fine,

if not, we're gonna
be in trouble.

[narrator] To get down
to the $14 million of gold,

Parker believes is beneath
Mud Mountain,

the crew has to strip
another 20 feet of overburden.

[Tyson] Yeah, there's
potentially 8,000 ounces
in this hole,

so we have to get it down
to pay, get all the mud out,

get it through a wash plant
sooner rather than later.

[Parker] Success, failure...

Genius and sanity.

It's all a fine line, right?

[narrator] Five weeks ago,

Parker halted work
at Mud Mountain

to bank more gold
from his other cuts.

But since he stopped,

melting permafrost
has turned the cut

into a swampy mess

preventing Parker
from bringing in the 'dozers.

[Tyson] Well, it's not
the right time of year

to be moving
this kind of mud, but...

It's what we're gonna do,

it's what's best
for the company.

That one has a bit
of mud in it.

Okay.

Right now, we're dealing
with very soft mud.

It looks very soupy.
I've never seen
anything like it.

[narrator] To dry out
the deepest cut
they've ever mined,

Tyson will have to make do
with the smallest pump
on the claim.

[Tyson] All I have
is a four-inch pump.

Get the water out.
That's the name
of the game here.

For now this is all I have
and gotta make it work.

See how we got
the water pump going.

Well, now, it's
the hurry-up-and-wait game.

[narrator] After 24 hours,

the cut is still too wet
for the 'dozers.

[Tyson] Parker's boss timing
is on cue, as always.

[narrator] Parker's already
spent $2.5 million

opening Mud Mountain.

-[Parker] I should have this
buttoned up in a week.
-[Tyson] A [bleep] week?

[Parker] Okay.

[Tyson] We don't have a week.

[narrator] A week's downtime
for Sluicifer

would cost
half a million dollars.

And there's no guarantee
that Parker will get the gold

out of Mud Mountain
before season's end.

It's great to have the plant
up and running.

[narrator] Three months
into the season,

Special Forces medic,
Fred Lewis,

and his crew
of combat veterans

have only run their wash plant
for one full week.

[Fred Lewis] Last week
we beat our season total
from last year.

That's fantastic.
But honestly, we need
to smooth things out.

We need at least 100 ounces
going through this plant

to make this a viable season.

[narrator] Fred needs
at least 100 ounces

worth $180,000,

to cover his costs
and pay his crew a bonus.

[Fred] At this point,
the only way
to make that happen

is to work as a team.

Cohesion and communication.

If we can do that,
we'll keep this sucker fed
the entire season.

[Stuart McKenzie]
I wanna go home
with some gold bars.

And I'm not going home
with empty pockets
this season.

[narrator] Recon scout sn*per,
Stuart McKenzie,

feeds the plant.

While Fred's wife, Khara,

loads pay into son
Christopher's rock truck.

[Christopher Parker] I like
working both the rock truck
and the isolator.

But it just makes sense
to put Stuart on it
for tonight.

Because he's got
more experience on it
than I do.

Even though I'd probably
do a better job than he would.

[Khara Lewis] So I'm just
gonna give you a couple loads
of gravel, right, Christopher?

[Christopher] Yeah.

The biggest thing
I've ever driven...

...was a Stryker
back in the Army.

[narrator] Twenty one-year-old
Christopher served
in the U.S. Army.

Where he drove
an eight-wheel Stryker

armored personnel carrier.

[Christopher] The military
had its ups and downs.

I was a cav scout,
so that was
basically reconnaissance.

I just need to know,
what is it that's causing you

to move, like, really slow?

Are you serious right now?

[Christopher] Yeah.

I really honestly--
I don't think you realize

when you're being
a jerk to people.

I think
you honestly don't know.

- Hey, Mom.
- What?

When are you gonna learn
to not hit the bucket?

I'm not trying to hit
the bucket, Christopher!

You are hitting the truck.

[Khara] The way
you're speaking to me
right now,

the way you speak to people,
is very arrogant.

- Nobody's gonna wanna
work for you.
- I speak to people this way

when they refuse to listen.

All right, Christopher,
I'm out.

- Hey, can you hop out
real quick?
- Yeah, sure, dude.

He's not gonna speak to me
like that.

- Flat out. So, you might know
a little bit more than me...
- Listen.

...but I'm still the hand that
feed you, so, I don't care.

When you're doing [bleep],
it's [bleep] it up.

[Fred] Hey! Be nice.

[Stuart] Christopher has
a way that he says things,

comes off pretty [bleep].

Butting heads with everybody.

There is not one person here
that has not thought about,

you know, tackling down
and beating the [bleep]
out of him.

We need a team player.
We don't need somebody who

is a know-it-all. Who thinks
that there's nothing

left for him to be taught.

[Fred] Christopher's
a good kid, but he's got
a hot head.

You know, he's 21-years-old.

But, the Misfits,
we're all about teamwork
and team cohesion,

and at this point, I've gotta
come up with a solution,

and see if he can learn
some things.

Definitely. All right,
I appreciate it.

Bye.

Christopher,
your attitude's really
starting to piss people off.

So, I want you to go
grab some stuff.

You're going away
for a few days.

Did you pack
your sleeping bag?

I guess I'm kinda asking you
to learn everything
you possibly can.

[narrator] To drill the art
of teamwork into Christopher,

Fred's reached out
to one of the toughest miners

in the Klondike.

All right, Christopher.

I know this may come
as a little bit of a surprise,

and maybe
a little overwhelming...

I know this may come
as a little bit of a surprise,

and maybe
a little overwhelming...

[narrator] Fred Lewis' son,
Christopher,

has a poor attitude
that's antagonized
the rest of the crew.

Now, Fred is trying
something radical

to get Christopher
back in line.

[Fred] I hate
to tell you this,
but I asked Tony

if you'd come over here
and shadow,

over there for some boot camp.

And he has said yes.

You know, you may not
understand everything
Tony says,

just nod and laugh.

- Tony!
-[Tony Beets speaking]

[Fred] I want you
to make it clear to him
he doesn't know everything.

He'll be free labor
for a few days.

[Christopher] Trial by fire.

- I appreciate it.
- I don't know if he wants it,
but I do.

No special treatment.

[Tony speaking]

[Kevin Beets] I think
you're gonna be
in the old dredge house,

'cause I think main camp
is pretty full.

[narrator] Tony's son, Kevin,
shows Christopher his home
for the next two days.

[Fred] I look at Tony
as a really good ally to have

and a really good friend
to have, and a really
good mentor.

I need Christopher
to understand he's not
the know-it-all,

and he's here to learn.

[Christopher]
My home-sweet-home
for a couple days.

There you go, just like that.
Keep coming.

[narrator] Rick Ness
is fighting to become

a big-league Yukon miner.

He's set himself 2,000-ounce
season gold.

More than he's ever
mined before in one season.

[Rick Ness] We've got a big
goal this year.

We are gonna
have to ramp this up.

[narrator] But midway
through the season,

he's only mined 560 ounces.

And he's running out
of pay dirt.

[Rick] Left, a bit!

[Chris Kruse] Hey, Brennan,
what do you think
about this naked strip?

To me, it looks like
we're about out of it.

[Brennan Ruault] We are out
of pay down here.

[narrator] After six weeks,
and 213 ounces,

the Bacon Strip Cut
is mined out.

And Rick is forced
to shut down wash plant Rocky.

I don't know, like,
what's the next answer.

Rick hasn't quite
let me know yet. Do you know
where we're gonna be headed?

Yeah, we'll see
if he's got a plan.

- Hey, Kruse, you gotta copy.
- Hey, Brennan, you gotta copy?

[Brennan] Keeping me
at the deep cut.

It's a big hole we've dug.

This is the money pit.

[narrator] Last season,

Rick gambled big on a piece
of ground he christened,
"The Deep Cut."

Ground which promised twice
as much gold as the rest

of lower Duncan Creek.

Any time I can pick
nuggets out of the box

and shove 'em in my pocket,
it's a good day.

[narrator] He moved heaven
and Earth to get down to pay.

[Rick] Uh-oh.
Oh, that's not good.

[narrator] Only to discover


[Rick] Doesn't make
any [bleep] sense.

We spent
a quarter million dollars
going down into this last year

and we didn't pull a [bleep]
ounce of gold out of it.

[scoffing]

[narrator] Now, a year later,

Rick has a hunch
there is still gold

hiding away in the Deep Cut.

We tested down here.
'Cause this was a continuation
of what the previous guys did,

and they were
pulling great numbers, so...

That Indian River,
it's a little more
easier to follow.

- All that gold's been spread
by water events.
- Mmm-hmm.

And so, it just... It just
spreads more or less evenly,

and it's a game of numbers,

you kind of know
what you're gonna get, right?

Through here, there's been
seven... Seven major

glacier events
come through here,

and that just took everything
and just [bleep] it up.

- It's a tough valley to mine.
-[Brennan] Yeah, no kidding.

[narrator]
Thousands of years ago,

a glacier cleaned out
the gold-rich pay dirt

from most of the area,

leaving only
a small section untouched

at the north-eastern edge.

You know, on the Indian River,
you can clear 20 football
fields,

and there'll be
the same amount of gold
in each football field.

- Mmm-hmm.
-[Rick] You know, here,
you clear 20 football fields,

- and all of it could be in one
half of one of those fields.
-[Brennan] Yeah.

And the problem is finding
which [bleep] one.

Why we're here is because,

the one section
that we left originally
for our access road into here

is probably gonna be
the only spot where there is

that one [bleep] half
of a football field out of 20,

where all the gold
got pushed to by a glacier

- and it's just sitting
in one little pile.
-[Brennan] Yeah.

If you left it, someone else
coming by later on to--

[Rick] Well,
that's just it, yeah.

[narrator] Rick believes
the edge of the glacier,

with its pocket
of gold-bearing gravel,

is under the access road.

There's gotta be something
in there, so, I mean,

best case scenario,
maybe we get a couple weeks
worth of running out of there,

you know, get three, four,


Well, since the 700 and 750
are up and running now,

should I head down there
and start digging around?

- I'm good with that.
- Alrighty.

- Okay, man.
- All right, let's get to work.

[Chris] The test hole
two years ago,
I think was right there.

-[Brennan] Yeah.
- That's when he started
digging down over there,

there was supposed
to be [bleep] pay,

and that was the end of it.

[laughing] Literally, that was
the [bleep] end of it.

I don't know anything about it
'cause I've never studied
this [bleep] or...

Never mined
in a glacial area, so...

-[Chris] Well, I've only been
mining for two years, so...
- Yeah.

...tells you what I know.

[bleep] Even if it was 20,
you'd still know nothing.

-[Brennan laughing]
-[bleep] you!

- Woo! sh**ter! sh**ter!
- Get down there
and start loading trucks.

Let's go. Let's do this.

Hauling our first few loads
of overburden out of the way,

trying to get down
to that pay layer.

If we're lucky,
we could make up
for some lost time

and help Rick get back
some of the money he spent on

opening up this massive hole

to find out that 90% of it
had no gold in it.

[Chris] This is
my third tour of duty
in this stupid hole here

and it gave us nothing.

Well, I guess I'm glad
we're not giving up on it.

'Cause like I said,
I feel like it still
owes us money.

Third time's a charm, maybe?

Fingers crossed, hopefully
it's the mother lode.

[Brennan] That's more like it.

You ready?

What's going on here, buddy?

[Brennan] I think we're kinda
finding the outer edge of this

[bleep] pay layer down here.

Richard!

Brennan!

[Brennan] What are
you thinking?

Think we found it?

[Rick] You pull that big rock
out of there?

I did. Two of 'em.
Building Stonehenge here.

When you start hitting
those big, big boulders
like that,

like, you're
in the right spot.

[narrator] Brennan's
discovered the edge of a layer

of rocks and gravel

that indicate the start
of the pay dirt.

If Rick's hunch is right,

it could hold hundreds
of ounces of gold.

I mean, we'll get
a week's worth of runtime
out of this.

- Like, that'll certainly
give us a boost.
-[Brennan] Yep.

- That'd be nice.
- It's not bad.

- I like the sound of that.
- Yeah.

- It's about time
this hole pays up.
- Yeah.

Okay, well, let's get at it.

[Brennan]
This is still mining,
it's still gambling.

We just never know
what's down there.

[Rick] Well, maybe there's
a reason we're back in here.

If there's still
a lot of two-ounce
per 100 ground in here,

it's a pretty damn
good reason.

[Tyson] You know, Parker's
putting all his eggs in
one basket right now,

and that's in Mud Mountain.

Sluicifer's shut down 'cause
my whole sluicing crew

is in trucks right now
helping me get Mud Mountain
squared away.

[narrator] For three days,
Parker Schnabel's plant boss,
Tyson Lee,

has struggled to remove
sloppy overburden
from Mud Mountain,

so Parker can bring in
'dozers to strip the cut
down to pay dirt.

[Mitch] Yeah, you can see
down there, it's starting
to build up.

[Tyson] Yeah.
No, it's looking good, man.

You know, this is just
a real bad time of year
to be doing this.

Should be done when it's cold,
not in the middle of summer.

The issue we're fighting here
as the temps have come up,

all that mud,
those high walls,
it's melting.

It's running out
and seeping onto the floor.

Right now, there's definitely
a lot of pressure and we can
definitely feel it.

[bleep]

Tyson, you got a copy, Tyson?

I'm getting stuck at the top.

[Tyson] Copy that, Tater Tot,
I'm on my way with the 700.

[Mitch] Some tough squat.

[Mitch] Right now,
we're gonna have to get
this thing moving again,

but the big struggle here is
there's no more spares,

there's nothing else
you can go grab or take from.

- So, I'm gonna have Tyson
push from the back.
-[Tatiana Costa] Yeah.

I'll have you turn the wheels
to the left here a little bit,

we'll just try
and get you straight.

So, go ahead
and take the brake off,
put it in gear.

Let's make it happen.

[engine starts]

Nice and easy, Tyson!

[creaking]

Go ahead and turn left
a little bit more!

Nice and easy. There you go!
Keep turning to the left,
turn to the left!

There you go, right there!
Keep going!

More power!

[engine revving]

Nailed it!

[narrator] The truck
is back in action.

[Tyson] We're going full force
here at Mud Mountain.

Starting to get
a handle on things,

but it's a bit of
a time-sensitive issue.

Parker wants to get
all the mud that's sloughed
into the cut

out of the way of the 'dozers.

I just want to get this
slough going to this ditch.

[Tatiana on radio] Okey-dokey.

[Tyson] Wanna back
into me, Tat?

Helped pull the bulk
of the mud off.

We've got her sorted now,
and I can go down there

and fire up that wash plant.
Start sluicing again.

[narrator] It's taken Tyson
and Tatiana

four days to drain the cut

and clear the soupy mud.

Four days of lost run time
at Sluicifer,

but now the D11s
can finally start stripping.

[Parker] That's the advantage
to using 'dozers over trucks,

is that truck that holds


is probably only packing,
like, 15 yards,

whereas these things,
you know, probably pushing,

like, 35 yards.

-[man 1 on radio] Keep up
the good work, man!
-[man 2 on radio] Thanks, man.

And I don't care too much
about sluicing or wash plants

or any of that stuff
right now.

I just want to get
this stupid mud

out of this stupid hole.

[narrator]
Mission accomplished.

[Tyson] Oh, yeah. Here we are.

Come on, girl.

[narrator] Tyson is liberated
from Mud Mountain

and gets back
to the promised land.

[Tyson] Do you know what,
right now,
I'm just gonna go ahead

and get Sluicifer
back shaking,
the conveyors turning,

and get everything warming up.

It's been a long week
of not sluicing.

[engine starts]

Come on, girl!

[engine rumbling]

Fire up the water pump.

Here we go! Back running.

Woo-hoo!

[narrator] Sluicifer is
finally back on the gold.

[Fred] I need everything
to happen smoothly.

[narrator]
At California Creek,

Fred Lewis' crew
is a man down.

Right now,
I've got Christopher
over at Tony Beets,

uh, hopefully getting
a pretty good lesson.

A little worried
that he's gonna say
something he shouldn't

and piss somebody off.

[narrator] Fifty miles away,
on Paradise Hill...

Ugh, [bleep]. I'm tired
as [bleep], yo.

...Tony Beets
puts Christopher...

[Christopher] I hate being
awake this early.

...on rock truck duty.

I'm more of a night person.

This is rough.

-[indistinct conversation]
-[chuckles]

Oh [bleep],
is everyone leaving?

Okay. [bleep]

[Tony Beets speaking]

[narrator] Tony loads pay
into rock trucks headed
for the trommel.

[Tony speaking]

[Christopher on radio]
You talking to me?

[Tony speaking]

[man 3 on radio]
You're way crooked there, bud.

Pull out and then
come back straight.

[man 3] You typically wanna
come in square with the pile
like he's telling you.

If you just look
into your mirror and you
lighten your box up.

[narrator]
Tony needs each driver
to do 15 trips per hour.

[Christopher] Takes me about
five minutes to get there.

Dump a load,
and then drive back.

[Tony speaking]

-[honking]
- Did he just honk at me?

-[truck honking]
- Yeah, he did.

[Tony speaking]

[Christopher]
People are getting
annoyed very easily.

[Christopher] I stopped
counting how many loads
I've done.

So, I think I'm on around,
like load [blows raspberry]...

Like, 15, maybe?

Like, Tony's been doing this
for a long time.

It's intimidating, because,
like, he knows his [bleep].

And I don't know anything.

[Tony speaking]

Yeah, again.

[narrator] After a day
of torment,

Christopher's been confronted
with some home truths.

[Christopher]
I probably look like such
a [bleeping] right now.

[narrator] At Paradise Hill...

[Christopher] Got terrible
sleep last night.

...Fred Lewis' son,


is on day two
at the Beets' camp.

- How's it going, man?
- Not too bad.

- How was
the rock truck yesterday?
- Fun as it can be.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Christopher's now
graduated to the excavator

where he needs
to remove tailings.

- You good?
- Hey, Kodi!

- How's it going, Kev?
-[Kevin] This is Chris.

- So, you gonna get him to run
the 460 for a little bit?
- Okay.

[narrator] Excavator operator,
Kodi Rousseau...

You gotta show him
what's what.

Make sure
we don't hit anything.

...has been on the Beets' crew
for three months.

-[Kevin] Have fun, guys.
- Sounds like fun!
Let's get it done!

[grunts] [bleep]

I hear yesterday...

- You were having
some troubles.
- Tony's brutal.

So, listen, like we're gonna
have to [bleep] claim. 24-7.

You know, when Tony's in
a good mood,
I'm in a good mood.

Yeah, how often is that?

Tony's actually
in a good mood, most times,

I, I haven't seen
Tony angry yet.

Just as long as you're
doing your job, and...

Keep it quiet.

Seen him pissed off
and swearing a lot, but...

...never seen him angry.

Oh, don't hit the trommel.

I swear to [bleep],
Tony will k*ll us.

-[Christopher]
k*ll me, not you.
-[Kodi] Well...

[Christopher] I'm trying to
stockpile your pile

as best as I can,
but I'm kinda [bleep] it up.

Hey, it's something.

As long as you don't
stockpile it out of reach,
I don't care.

I'm gonna put it
over that berm.

[laughing]

Really appreciate
you taking that time.

Yeah, bud.

[Kevin] Hey, Chris,
how she goes?

[Christopher]
How's it going, man?

How's your morning going?

[Kevin] So far this morning,
we did an H-beam replacement.

One of these days,
the transmission on a D6.

Never ending,
just never ending [bleep].

Never ending [bleep].

[Kevin] Now, if I can
give you one bit of advice,

I'd say,

a lot of folks think

you gotta be
a real hard a*s all the time

to get the results you want,

but really, most of the time,
that ain't true.

If your crew respects
and likes you,

they're gonna do
more work for you,

of better quality,

with a lot less complaining.

You gotta give them
a little bit of trust,

and you're gonna get
a lot more back in return.

[narrator] After two full days
at the Beets' claim...

[Christopher] I'll catch you
later, yeah?

...Christopher's eager
to head home.

[Christopher]
Beets' bootcamp, um,

definitely a different
environment, for sure,

versus back at my own claim.

Being out here,
I've been learning stuff.

I'm pretty aware I need
to change my attitude.

I actually got out
of the army early
on my contract,

because I [bleep] up
a couple times,

and I was down bad after that.

I kinda felt like I had let
a bunch of people down.

I'm disappointed in myself,

and I will be
disappointed in myself,

uh, until the day,
like, I die.

It's that,
it's a weird feeling,

when you're like only 21,
and it feels like

your whole life's
falling apart.

Fred reached out to me,

and was saying, like,
"Hey, man, listen, like,

I need guys up here,
and I know you need help."

So...

I, I'd feel really [bleep]
if I let Fred down,

after all that he's
done for me.

[Rick] I do know
there's gold down here,

I just don't know how much.

[narrator] With his
wash plant shut down,

Rick Ness is on the hunt
for more pay dirt.

He's returned to a spot
he has history with,

the Deep Cut.

[Rick] Worst case scenario

is that we get
nothing out of it.

I don't think that's
gonna happen,

but [bleep] me, anything
can happen out here.

[narrator] The ground
nearly bankrupted
Rick, last season,

but he's taking a gamble

at a pocket
of gold-rich pay dirt

that's remained hidden
under an old access road.

[Rick] Here, I've been working
on this hole for three years,

which sounds ridiculous,
but it is a fact,

and, uh, if I don't put it
to rest, once and for all,

get the gold out of here,
if there's any,

I'm not gonna be able
to stop thinking about it.

This is [bleep] frustrating.

I got water coming in.

Hey, Kruse, you got a copy?

[Kruse on radio] Yeah,
go for Kruse.

There's a lot of water
coming in here,

down in the Deep Cut,

and, uh, we're gonna need
to get a pump in here

right away if we're gonna
get this pay out.

As I'm digging down,

I'm definitely getting
through the water table,

which I, I suspected.

Um, kinda didn't
expect it so soon, though,

and, uh, if I'm gonna
continue on here,

I'm gonna need a pump
down here, ASAP.

[Kruse] We got groundwater
leeching into this hole,

'cause it's so deep,

and that's something
I've never even dealt with.

This being my third year here,

I've never had to deal
with groundwater.

The plan is to get
this bad boy fired up.

Hey, Kyle, I need you
to get that loader up here

to the laydown yard,
and get this pump
down by the creek,

so we can see
if it'll move any water.

[loud machine sounds]

[Kyle on radio]
All right, I'll meet you
down by the creek.

[Rick] Running out of time.

They need to get a pump
in here, right away,

before I end up with a mess
that's out of control.

[narrator] But before
Kruse can start the pump,

he must prime it.

Three years' worth of work
in this Deep Cut,

it's coming down
to whether or not

we can get this pump running.

I'm gonna try to fire this up!

[engine starting]

I got this thing running,

but now the pump
doesn't want to pump

any [bleep] water,
so, I don't know.

This is a one-way valve.

It'll only let, suck water in,

it won't let water
come back out.

And I think, if can
get that on,

in place of that cage,

uh, we'll be able

to fill the whole
pump system up,

get all the air out of it,

and, hopefully,
it should pump water.

[narrator]
Huge pressure is required

to pump the water uphill
and out of the cut.

Too little, and gravity
forces the water

back down the supply pipe,

causing air pockets,
which stop the pump.

The spring loaded
one-way valve

ensures water can't return,

and allows the pump
to run smoothly.

[Kruse] Just make
that go in there.

Come on over here, buddy!

[narrator] Kruse drags in
Nathan Thornington

for extra muscle.

- It's your lucky day.
-[Nathan] Why?

[Kruse] I got
this sledgehammer
that needs swinging.

[Nathan] I'm not putting
my hands down there.

[Kruse laughs]

[Kruse] Look at that.

[Nathan] Watch,
it's almost all the way in.

[Kruse] You were just the man
for the job, buddy.

I'll get this thing
chucked in the water,

and we're gonna try it.

If you wanna just look down
in that tube, right there.

When you see
the water coming out, yell.

-[Nathan laughs] Yeah.
-[engine starting]

[laughing] I think
it's working!

This, uh, pump is ready
to pump water.

Crank it up!

[motor whirring]

Yee-haw!

It's going.

Hey, it's going.

[Rick] She's pumping.

[narrator] Six hours
since water started
to fill the Deep Cut,

the crew is finally able
to start pumping it dry again.

[Rick] Water's out of the cut,

- get the trucks
out of here, huh?
- All right, buddy.

[Rick] We should be
haulin' out of here,

and have the plant running
within about 20 minutes.

Fire it up.

[narrator] Wash plant Rocky
finally has some pay dirt

from the Deep Cut
to chew through.

[Rick] The Deep Cut,
at this point,

has done nothing
but cost me money.

So right now, this is the time
to make it pay out.

Hey, John, you got
a care package!

[Khara] I hope there's
cookies in there.

[JB] And my birthday was
not too long ago, so...

-[Stuart] Oh, yeah.
-[JB] Uh-oh, what
do we got here?

- Cozy, fluffs.
- Oh, my gosh.

[JB] This is something
that my family made for me.

It's all my race t-shirts.

[narrator] Veteran, JB,
has run dozens of races

for charity
all across the States.

-[Stuart] That's awesome, man.
-[JB laughing] Oh, my gosh.

[Stuart] That's
awesome, brother.

[JB] Lot of cool memories.

Yeah.

[JB] Plus, it feels like
it's gonna be warm.

-[Stuart] I know, man.
-[JB laughing]

Every military member
could tell you,

getting a care package

is probably one
of the most special moments.

All the way up here
in the Yukon, and,

and, uh, as cold as it gets
at night and all that,

that blanket's gonna
come in handy.

That's awesome. [laughs]

[Christopher]
We've only got, like,

thirty minutes to get
both those loads.

[narrator]
At California Creek,

Fred Lewis' son, Christopher,
is back with the crew.

[Khara] So now I'm getting
to where my pile

is really little,
should I back up?

Oh, yeah, that's what I'll do.

Uh, you know, you can
definitely see a change
in Chris' attitude

once he got back
from, uh, his little...

...adventure over
with, uh, with Tony.

Yeah, he's just not quite
so much a [bleep].

[Christopher] Ah, the sun.

Uh, when I showed up here,
I was kind of a [bleep].

From my experience,
when I was in the army,

you kinda had to
be one to get by.

But I've learned that
that's not how they operate,

and that's not
how they do things.

Definitely have toned down
being a [bleep].

Christopher, you had
a really good week with Tony.

I'm gonna have you
call out this weigh,
if you don't mind.

- All right, you ready?
-[Christopher]
It's not zeroed.

[narrator] In his first week
of running, Fred got more

than the whole
of the previous season,



[Christopher] One. Three.

Six. Seven.



[narrator] Worth over $16,000.

[Fred] Hey, so
we're going up, guys.

-[JB] Yeah.
- This is our second
gold weigh.

With ten more,
if we can replicate this,

we're hitting our goal.

- All right.
- All right?

Get back to work. [laughs]

- Thank you guys.
-[Stuart] Find some more.

[Fred] All right, we're
two gold weighs in right now,

we've got almost 18 ounces,
that's pretty much three times

our season, last year.

For the most part, our team

is really hitting it
right now.

I'm super proud of this gold.

-[Rick] Well, hello.
-[Kruse] Oh, hello.

-[Nathan] Hello.
-[Leese] Hey.

[narrator] At Duncan Creek,

it's time to find out
if Rick Ness' hunch

about the Deep Cut
access road has paid off.

I lost a quarter million
dollars on it last year,

but we had
a successful season,

and I absorbed that loss.

So now it seems
just kinda like free gold.

I don't think that's actually
how it works, but it makes,

- it makes me feel better.
-[all laughing]

[narrator] So far,
Rick has averaged

seventy ounces a week.

But to keep him on course

for his 2,000 ounce
season goal,

Rick needs the last
of the Deep Cut

to deliver
at least 100 ounces.

Well, we're gonna test
how high you can
count there, Brennan.

[Brennan] Twenty. 40.

Sixty. 80.

Hundred.

Hundred ten. 20.



-[Rick] [bleep].
-[Brennan] That's your
biggest cleanup of the year.

-[laughing]
-[Rick] Sweet.

[narrator] Rick's gamble
on the old access road,

has landed him on a pocket
of extremely lucrative,

gold-rich pay,

worth $220,000.

It's their biggest haul
of the season so far.

Rick's season total now stands
at 687.68 ounces.

That's a good week.

[Brennan] I'm [bleep]
happy with that.

[Rick] Number's like that
is what we need though,

- but, you know.
-[Brennan] Yeah.

At this point, it's only
numbers like that
that we need.

- They gotta, gotta
keep going up, so...
-[Brennan] [bleep], yeah.

And I know there's a lot more
of it, on, out here,

right on this property, so...

I don't know about you guys,
but this is exactly
what I needed.

[Brennan] Yes, sir!

That and some cold beers.

[Kruse] That
and some cold beers.

-[Kruse] 'Bout damn time
-[Rick] 'Bout damn time.

[all laughing]

[Doumitt] Hey, Tyson.

[Tyson] How's it going,
Doumitt?

-[Doumitt] Well, huh?
- Still kicking.

-[Doumitt] Hey, Mitchell.
- Chris, what's happening?

-[Doumitt] How you doing, bud?
- Not bad, yourself?

[Doumitt] Good.

You washing rocks?

-[Tyson] Oh, yeah.
-[Doumitt] Yeah?

Yeah, you know,
just fired back up

for the first time in a week.

Let's hope the sacrifice
was worth it.

- Hopefully.
-[Doumitt] Yeah.

- Hey, there, youngster.
- What's up?

-[Doumitt] How you doing?
- What are, what are
you doing?

[narrator] Big Red
ran for a full week
at the Airstrip,

and so far this season,

has averaged 255 a gold weigh.

Okay, you ready, Mitch?

So this was Big Red,
just kinda plugged along.

Forty.

Seventy. 100.

One hundred forty.

One hundred ninety. 200.

Two hundred thirty. 240.



[narrator]
Worth over $500,000.

- Sluicifer did a little bit.
-[Doumitt] Yeah.

[narrator]
Wash plant, Sluicifer,
ran for only one day.

[Doumitt] One.

Twenty five.



So for the week,
we wound up with 316.75.

[Parker] It was
a necessary sacrifice.

[narrator]
Sluicifer usually averages


Parker's gamble
to shut down the wash plant

has cost him 173 ounces,

worth $312,000.

[Doumitt] Season total,


three hundred ounce week.

[narrator]
The season total to date,

is worth over $5 million,

barely enough to cover
just the costs

of Parker's ongoing gamble
at Mud Mountain.

[Mitch] Are you,
uh, regretting it?

[Parker] Well, I'll regret it

until there's a ton of money
made out of it.

I'll leave this to you guys.

- Yeah, not the walls, right?
- Thanks, guys.

[Doumitt] Hope Tyson
starts bringing in the gold,

because we don't really
know for 100% fact

that Mud Mountain
is just dripping in gold.

So until we get it sluiced up,

it's everything's
still up in the air.